canine

English

WOTD – 3 November 2013

Etymology

From Latin canīnus (“of dogs, dog-like”), from canis (“dog”). Compare French canin.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: kāʹnīn, kaʹnīn, (rare) kə-nīnʹ, IPA^(key): /ˈkeɪnaɪn/, /ˈkænaɪn/, (rare) /kəˈnaɪn/
• (General American) enPR: kāʹnīn', (rare) kə-nīnʹ, IPA^(key): /ˈkeɪˌnaɪn/, (rare) /kəˈnaɪn/

• Audio (General Australian):

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• Audio (Southern England):

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• Rhymes: -eɪnaɪn, -ænaɪn, -aɪn
• Homophone: K9
• Hyphenation: ca‧nine

Adjective

canine (not comparable)

1. Of, or pertaining to, a dog or dogs.
   • 1913, Sax Rohmer, chapter 8, in The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu:

     We carried the dog round to the yard, and I examined his head. […] I accepted the care of the canine patient.

   • 2005, Gareth Roberts, Only Human, page 17:

     A lost dog sniffed around the flower beds wishing it had some canine company […]

2. Dog-like.
   • 1891, Arthur Quiller-Couch, “The Affair of Bleakirk-on-Sands,”, in Noughts & Crosses:

     In many respects she made me an admirable wife. Her affection for me was canine—positively.

   • 2000, Josh Homme, Nick Oliveri (lyrics and music), “The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret”, in Rated R, performed by Queens of the Stone Age:

     I look for reflections, in your face
     Canine devotion, time can't erase
     Out on the corner, locked in your room
     I never believe them and I never assume

3. (anatomy) Of or pertaining to mammalian teeth which are cuspids or fangs.
   • 1872, Charles Darwin, chapter 10, in Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals:

     Then his upper lip may be seen to be raised, especially at the corners, so that his huge canine teeth are exhibited.

4. (medicine, obsolete) Of an appetite: depraved or inordinate; used to describe eating disorders.

Synonyms

• (of dogs): dogly, houndly
• (dog-like): dogly, doglike, houndly

Derived terms

• canicross
• caninal
• canine council
• canine distemper
• canine distemper virus
• canine hysteria
• caninekind
• canine letter
• caninelike
• caninely
• canine madness
• canineness
• caniniform
• caninity
• caninize
• caninophile
• condylocanine
• intercanine
• noncanine
• postcanine
• precanine
• pretercanine
• pseudocanine
• supercanine
• uncanine

 

Translations

pertaining to dogs

• Arabic: كَلْب (ar) (kalb) (in genitive construction), كَلْبِيّ (kalbiyy)
• Armenian: շնային (hy) (šnayin), շան (hy) (šan)
• Belarusian: саба́чы (sabáčy), псі (psi), псі́ны (psíny)
• Bulgarian: ку́чешки (bg) (kúčeški)
• Catalan: caní (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 狗的 (zh) (gǒu de)

• Czech: psí (cs)
• Dutch: honds (nl)
• Esperanto: hunda
• Faroese: hunda- (fo)
• Finnish: koira- (fi)
• French: canin (fr)
• German: Hunde- (de), Hunds- (de), hundeartig
• Greek: κυνικός (el) (kynikós), σκυλίσιος (el) (skylísios), σκυλο- (skylo-)

  Ancient: κύνειος (kúneios)

• Hindi: श्वानीय m (śvānīya)
• Irish: cainíneach m
• Italian: canino (it)
• Japanese: イヌの (ja) (inu no)
• Korean: 개의 (ko) (gae-ui)
• Latin: canīnus (la)
• Macedonian: кучешки (kučeški)
• Malay: kanin, anjing (ms)
• Polish: psi (pl)
• Portuguese: canino (pt), canina f, caninos m pl, caninas f pl
• Romanian: canin (ro)
• Russian: соба́чий (ru) (sobáčij), пси́ный (ru) (psínyj)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: па̏сјӣ

  Roman: pȁsjī (sh)

• Slovak: psí
• Slovene: pasji
• Spanish: canino (es)
• Ukrainian: пе́сячий (pésjačyj), соба́чий (sobáčyj), пся́чий (psjáčyj), пе́ський (pésʹkyj), пси́ний (psýnyj)
• Volapük: dogik (vo)
• Welsh: cynaidd, cynol
• Yiddish: הינטיש (hintish)

dog-like

• Dutch: hondachtig (nl)
• Finnish: koiramainen (fi)
• German: hundeartig, hündisch
• Greek: κυνικός (el) (kynikós), σκυλίσιος (el) (skylísios)
• Italian: canino (it) m, cagnesco (it) m
• Portuguese: canino (pt) m, canina f, caninos m pl, caninas f pl
• Punjabi: ਕੁੱਤਾ ਵਰਗਾ (kuttā vargā)
• Slovak: psí
• Spanish: perruno (es), canino (es)

Noun

canine (plural canines)

1. Any member of Caninae, the only living subfamily of Canidae.
   • 2018, Tim Flannery, Europe: A Natural History, page 187:

     Whatever the case, the pair’s adventure certainly became famous in 2016, when a large dating program of fossils and artefacts from Chauvet Cave, which included the smear of charcoal discarded by the child, confirmed that the tracks constitute the oldest unequivocal evidence of a relationship between humans and canines.

2. (formal) Any of certain extant canids regarded as similar to the dog or wolf (including coyotes, jackals, etc.) but distinguished from the vulpines, which are regarded as fox-like.
   • 2010, M. S. Mititch, The Spychip Conspiracy, page 189:

     The canine ran across the room to the open window, put his front paws on the sill and pointed his nose at the sidewalk below.

3. In heterodont mammals, the pointy tooth between the incisors and the premolars; a cuspid.
   • 2006, Amy Sutherland, Kicked, Bitten, and Scratched: Life and Lessons at the World's Premier School for Animal Trainers:

     He tried to push Kissu into his cage, but the cougar charged back out and sank his canines into Wilson's rump.

4. (poker slang) A king and a nine as a starting hand in Texas hold 'em due to phonetic similarity.
   • 2005, Dennis Purdy, The Illustrated Guide to Texas Hold'em, page 270:

     You have been dealt King-9 unsuited ("canine") in your pocket.

Synonyms

• (dog or wolf): dog
• (pointy tooth): cuspid

Derived terms

• caninoid

Translations

dog or wolf

• Finnish: koiraeläin (fi)
• Latin: canis (la)
• Malay: kanin

pointy tooth — see canine tooth

See also

• lupine
• vulpine
• Canini (tribe within subfamily Caninae)

References

• Weisenberg, Michael (2000) The Official Dictionary of Poker. MGI/Mike Caro University. →ISBN

Anagrams

• neanic

French

Etymology

From Latin canina.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ka.nin/

Adjective

canine

1. feminine singular of canin

Noun

canine f (plural canines)

1. canine, cuspid

Synonyms

• croc

Further reading

• “canine”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• ancien

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kaˈni.ne/
• Rhymes: -ine
• Hyphenation: ca‧nì‧ne

Adjective

canine

1. feminine plural of canino

Anagrams

• cennai, nencia, nicena

Latin

Adjective

canīne

1. vocative masculine singular of canīnus